Yermín heroics spare Sox from loss

Good lord of longballs, Yermín Mercedes did it again!

With the White Sox down to their last strike, this homme gros of tater-mashing took a terrific third-strike pitch from Reds reliever Cody Reed and CRUSHED it out to left-center:

I mean, CHECK OUT THIS NONSENSE!

It takes a perfect swing and approach to take this outside pitch and not just turn it over into a putty dribbler to shortstop or a bloop out to short center.

Yermín Mercedes is a Professional Hitter. MERCY!

Andrew Vaughn came close to walking the ballgame off with a clout to center, but Stuart Fairchild reeled it in to preserve the 3-3 tie.

In terms of other professionals, well, it was hit-and-miss for the White Sox today. Yasmani Grandal designated-hit his way to prominence, with his second double and first homer of the spring; small sample size stats sit now at .375 BA/1.470 OPS.

The White Sox bullpen was aces, as Aaron Bummer, Kelvin Herrera, Steve Cishek, Jimmy Cordero and Evan Marshall combined for six innings of scoreless, two-hit, two-walk, seven-K ball.

But the defense was shaky, with Tim Anderson, Andrew Romine and Eloy Jiménez participating in sheer tomfoolery on the field. And while he limited damage, Dylan Cease had a very Ceasian start, with three earned and four walks in three innings, with three walks, three Ks and a homer. It was sort of the Dylan Cease starting starter kit.

And the outing was aided in a major way by a terrific bases-loaded double play turned by Leury García:

Tomorrow is Michael Kopech Day, as the rehabbing righty is expected to take the first inning in advance of encroaching storms. Watch our No. 2 prospect on WhiteSox.com or listen in on WGN. Hamster will be here for the SSS coverage, while Darren Black takes it at SSHP.